I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have some harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

Certainly not! Let God be true, though every man a liar. As it is written: "That you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged."

But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

Why not say as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say "Let us do evil that good may come"? Their condemnation is just.

As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;

whom God put forward as an atoning sacrifice by his blood, to be received through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over sins committed beforehand;

For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."

Now to him who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due.

And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.

Is this blessedness only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.

(as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls things that do not exist as though they did.

In hope, he believed against hope, so that he became the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be."

And he did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.

That is why it was "reckoned to him as righteousness."

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all men sinned.

So then, as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.

Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one to obey as slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

I am speaking in human terms, because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for holiness.

Do you not know, brethrenfor I am speaking to those who know the lawthat the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of her husband.

Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But it was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, so that through the commandment sin might become sinful beyond measure.

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

As it is written: "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

But it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel,

In other words, it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants.

As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

As indeed he says in Hosea: "I will call them who were not my people 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'my beloved.'"

And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.

And as Isaiah said: "Unless the Lord of hosts had left us children, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah."

Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,

as it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone that will make men stumble, and a rock that will make them fall; and he who believes in him will not be put to shame."

And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!"

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."

Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, "I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; by a foolish nation I will make you angry."

But Isaiah is very bold and says, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me."

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Certainly not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, down to this very day."

So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? Certainly not! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous.

Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry

If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole lump is holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function,

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and any other commandment there may be, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy.

As for the man who is weak in faith, accept him, but not for disputes over opinions.

One man esteems one day as better than another; another man esteems every day alike. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind.

For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.

So do not let your good be spoken of as evil.

For even Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me."

Therefore, welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God.

and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name";

But I have written very boldly to you on some points, so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God,

by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

but as it is written: "They shall see who have not been told of him, and those who have not heard shall understand."

Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen.